Tennessee's May 2018 statewide unemployment rate of 3.5 percent marked the 11th consecutive month the figure has been 3.5 percent or lower.

While the May unemployment rate represents a slight uptick of 0.1 of a percentage point compared to the April rate of 3.4 percent, year-to-year, it is 0.3 of a percentage point lower than it was in May 2017.

Nationally, unemployment dropped for the second consecutive month. The United States unemployment rate for May was 3.8 percent, down 0.1 of a percentage point from the previous month. In May 2017, the national unemployment rate was half a percentage point higher at 4.3 percent.